£1.4 million for relief road for housing development in Cullompton… Property owners to be more involved in regeneration of towns… Consent for world’s largest offshore wind farm… Government authorises Hazardous waste facility… First deal under Government 

Build to Rent scheme… £220 million boost for affordable housing

£1.4 million for relief road for housing development in Cullompton

Outline planning consent has been awarded to a developer to build an additional 285 new homes on a 27 acre plot in Cullompton. £1.4 million is being put forward to highways improvements, flood defences and a relief road.

Property owners to be more involved in regeneration of towns

Local Growth Minister Mark Prisk announced proposals to give property owners greater opportunity to participate in the regeneration of business improvement districts and high streets. The proposals are intended to boost funding and enthusiasm by giving landlords a direct say in their local projects.

Consent for world’s largest offshore wind farm 

A nationally significant infrastructure project consisting of 288 wind turbines situated off the coast of Lincolnshire and Norfolk, the largest offshore wind farm in the world, has been approved by Energy Secretary Ed Davey.

Government authorises Hazardous waste facility

A hazardous waste landfill site in Northamptonshire, the first to be dealt with under the planning regime for nationally significant infrastructure projects, will almost double in size as a result of recommendations by the examining planning inspector and subsequent Government approval.   

First deal under Government Build to Rent scheme

The Government’s Build to Rent scheme which has put forward £1 billion for homes built specifically to rent, has helped to deliver a development of 1600 homes at Southhampton quayside, Housing Minister Mark Prisk said “we’re determined to build a bigger and better private rented sector that gives tenants a wide choice of good quality homes.”

Read more…

£220 million boost for affordable housing

Approximately 14,000 homes will be constructed outside of London as a result of the £220 million funding injection from the Government. 69 housing associations and developers will share the sum, which is part of the expanded £450 million Affordable Housing Guarantees.  

Read more…

For more information, please contact mark.howard@michelmores.com.

How often do you indicate your acceptance to online terms and conditions without ever reading them? Recent developments in both case-law and the practices of internet companies may make you think twice before doing so in future.

In December 2012, Facebook-owned photo sharing platform Instagram faced backlash from users when it was revealed that changes were being made to its terms and conditions which appeared to give Instagram the right to sell users’ photos to advertisers free of charge and without notification. Although denying that this was its intention, blaming ‘confusing’ language in the revised terms, it has arguably called into question the practice of online companies to overwhelm users with lengthy terms and conditions and complex legal jargon in an attempt to impose unfavourable terms on users.

A recent article published by BBC News (Source – BBC News – © 2013 BBC)  suggested that the terms and conditions of certain well-known internet companies have a higher word count than works of Shakespeare. Some terms and conditions, including the iTunes terms and conditions of Apple, contain terms which allow the company to modify and add to the terms and conditions at any time. It is then the user’s continued use of the service in question that is deemed acceptance of these modified terms.

But can companies get away with these practices? The Unfair Terms in Consumer Contract Regulations 1999 (UTCCR) deals with the fairness of contractual terms in consumer contracts. Regulation 5(1) sets out that a contractual term that has not been: “individually negotiated [with a consumer] shall be regarded as unfair if…it causes a significant imbalance in the parties’ rights and obligations arising under the contract”, consequently rendering it unenforceable. 

In the case of Spreadex Limited v Colin Cochrane [2012], the online betting company, Spreadex, sought to rely on a “deemed authorisation” clause in its 49 page customer agreement to obtain payment from Cochrane of £50,000 of losses racked up by a 5 year old child “playing” on Cochrane’s computer.  The clause stated: “You will be deemed to have authorised all trading under your account number”. Spreadex’s claim was dismissed partly on the basis that this clause was an unfair term under UTCCR. The clause had not been individually negotiated with Cochrane and, viewed overall, did not satisfy the fairness test in Regulation 5(1) of UTCCR.

Whether a particular term in an internet company’s terms and conditions is enforceable will depend on the facts of the case and therefore must be decided on a case-by-case basis. However the need for the term to be fair must be at the forefront of these companies’ minds, especially where the term is unusual or seeks to impose liability on the consumer. It may be wise to highlight key terms or specifically draw the consumer’s attention to them, thus allowing the consumer to make an informed decision as to whether or not to accept the contract. Failure to do so may render these terms unenforceable and, as highlighted by Spreadex, could cause significant losses. 

For more information on website issues, e-commerce or consumer contracts, please contact Tom Torkar, Partner in our Commercial team.

As part of my seat in the Clinical Negligence team I had the opportunity to attend a conference with Counsel and medical experts in London. As the conference was in the afternoon I was able to spend the morning in Michelmores’ London office.

Although I am originally from Greater London, I had not visited Chancery Lane before and therefore made full use of ‘Google maps’ to locate the office. I had a thoroughly enjoyable morning; I was able to acquaint myself with the London office and members of the London team. I was then able to walk with my supervisor to the chambers in the afternoon. I was lucky enough to be attending a conference with three highly qualified medical experts, as well as Counsel and my supervisor, Bernadette McGhie, who herself was a qualified general and paediatric nurse before she became a solicitor.

It was fascinating to hear the nitty-gritty of a clinical negligence claim, although with no medical background, I think a lot of the medical jargon went sailing over my head! However, by the end of the conference I had, dare I say it, improved my medical knowledge a little, whilst my shorthand had improved a lot.

Within the same week, I was also able to attend my first in person court hearing. As the hearing was in Torquay, I was able to experience the journey between Exeter and Torquay along the seafront and admire the scenic views. Unfortunately, I had not had the foresight to bring warm clothing for waiting on various station platforms, but managed to borrow a scarf and find a very large fur coat in the boot of my car. Although I may have looked a tad overdressed for court, I was able to wriggle out of my winter attire before entering the court room. The hearing was really interesting and the whole experience very beneficial. I hope to be invited along next time!

Of all the legal issues I thought a seat in Procurement, State Aids and Competition Law would bring (I wouldn’t have been able to tell you many to be fair), the illegal harvest of timber was probably not one of them…

Similarly if you asked me whether I thought I’d become a timber ‘nerd’ I’d have probably laughed (politely) in your face and said no. But I would have been wrong. The forthcoming EU Timber Regulations (EUTR) will take effect from 3 March 2013, in case you wondered, and will have a widespread impact across the timber trade.  The EUTR will compel all companies that first bring timber or timber products into the EU to show they have effectively assessed their suppliers, via a ‘due diligence system’ to minimise the risk of sourcing illegal timber. This is part of the EU’s environmental policy and has been largely supported by the Timber sector.

Despite the EUTR being approved in 2010, it has only recently become a real forefront issue as we approach the final countdown stages. For example, the ‘special focus’ section of the latest edition of the Timber Trade Journal was dedicated to the long-awaited EUTR. Of course I am a Timber Trade Journal (the ‘TTJ’ to us timber nerds) subscriber, and am looking to subscribe to more timber publications! Despite the potential lack of ‘glamour’ and celebrity gossip surrounding the timber trade, it really is fascinating! It’s certainly not an aspect of law I was expecting to be dealing with, but I have been lucky enough to provide advice for several new clients in relation to it. It has been a timber whirlwind which I’m hoping will continue.

Although I’m not ashamed of being a timber nerd, perhaps I have gone a bit too far. Perhaps it is a little anti-social to explain to your friends about the FSC certification stamp on a brush in the Body Shop or want to discuss with them how every piece of timber used in building the London Olympics sites was certified ‘legal and sustainable’. Or maybe I just need new friends?

Recently my supervisor was invited to speak at the Tourism Management Institute Convention about State Aids, hosted in the New Forest.

After meeting several representatives from tourism bodies, we had some spare time before the presentation. Shamefully, neither of us had visited the New Forest before so thought we would explore the countryside surrounding the hotel venue. An enjoyable breath of fresh air – or so we thought.

I guess the walk started badly as my shoes were not designed with puddles of mud in mind. Worse was to come…

After some walking we encountered an unfenced field of cows to the side of the country lane we had innocently wandered down. My supervisor would argue, as he did at the time, they were ‘bulls’ not cows. What followed was a stare-out between my supervisor and the ‘bulls’ (think black and white western films). To say my supervisor hurriedly retreated when a ‘bull’ took an overly aggressive step forward is an understatement!

I was abandoned to their mercy. Though none of the cows subsequently moved, my supervisor assured me they were not to be trusted. Luckily we both survived and counselling has not been necessary. If anything it made our State Aid discussion much less traumatic, given the ordeal we had already overcome!

Over the last few months I have been helping to arrange the Michelmores Future Homes Forum which took place last week.

The event was organised at the request of Sir John Banham who is now the Chairman of the Future Homes Commission, a body recently set up by the Royal Institute of British Architects to conduct an inquiry into the design and delivery of theUK’s future homes.

The purpose of the Forum was to aid the Commission with its inquiry by bringing together leading developers, planners, architects, agents and bankers to discuss the issues hindering the supply of affordable housing.  I helped with the organisation as my current and second seat is in the Property department.

The event took place on a lovely Spring day – so nice in fact that guests were invited onto our roof-top terrace to enjoy tea and coffee before the roundtable discussion began!

Sir John Banham chaired the meeting itself which was very interesting – a fantastic insight into the views of leading individuals within the housing sector.

The Future Homes Commission is aiming to produce a report on the subject of its inquiry in the autumn of this year. Before the meeting at Michelmores, Sir John Banham explained that he would be happy to leave with just one idea for his part of the report; afterwards he said he had at least four – very satisfying to hear!

Keep an eye on the publications page of our website for our post-briefing materials if you would like to hear more about the meeting.